Of Beer & Art: Brooklyn Brewery At 25

And so ends our 25th year. And after all the lessons learned, and beers drank, we reflect on how Brooklyn has become culture.

Brooklyn and art, like Sonny and Cher, or celery and peanut butter, they will always be more delicious together. As the Manhattan art scene pushed its way into the boroughs Brooklyn’s embrace of cheaper rents and bigger spaces gave rise to a culture of anti-heros and fine graffiti that would take the art world by storm. When we started making beer in Brooklyn it was to evoke a time when manufacturing plants and industry filled these streets. These days manufacturing is coming back slowly but surely to Brooklyn but I would argue that production never stopped, it simply changed from steel to culture.

For our Silver Anniversary we went back to our original Lager recipe and bottled a refermented double bock version to commemorate. Throughout the years, some of the friends we’ve made have risen to artistic fame. We could think of no better way to celebrate our 25th anniversary than to partner with Fred Tomaselli, Roxy Paine, Joe Amrhein and Elizabeth Crawford, all of whom agreed to contribute art to grace the labels of a Silver Anniversary Lager.

There’s no telling what the next 25 years will bring, though with the inspiration of the borough we love and the continuous innovation of the beer we make. I’m sure there will be plenty to reflect on and celebrate.